To His Excellency the Honorable Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq in Finland, Dr. Moulath D. Safti

Greetings

We are Citizens for Refugees Finland. We are an organisation working to help asylum seekers in Finland.

As is known to your Excellency, many Iraqi asylum seekers arrived Finland during the summer and fall of the year 2015.

Some of these Iraqi nationals have lost their travel documents, such as passports,during their journey for refuge. Now some of these Iraqis have had their asylum application rejected. They have come to remain in Finland without valid documentation, either from Finland or Iraq.

There are nearly 200 Iraqi people, including families with small children, who have become undocumented and thus vulnerable for exploitation by individuals with ill will.

After having tried all possible avenues in Finland only the help of the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq, the mother country of these people, remains to provide a solution to their plight.

To be able to legalize their status and to apply for a residence permit in Finland on the bases of work or study these people need a passport. Many of them have already found suitable work but cannot pursue further with this goal only for the lack of a passport. This situation alone puts them into a grave danger of exploitation.

We wish Your Excellency would be willing to consider our proposal to help these Iraqi nationals. As to be able to legalise their status in Finland by the means of a residence permit based on work or study they need the possibility of obtaining a passport in Finland.

As your Excellency is aware, Iraqi passports can only be currently obtained for Iraqis from the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Sweden.

It is impossible for undocumented people to travel to Sweden from Finland since they do not have valid travel documents.This situation may give raise to the possibility that these Iraqi nationals be exploited by criminals or themselves detained by border authorities.

We most respectfully ask Your Excellency to take these exceptional circumstances into consideration and agree to the possibility of receiving the applications and the digital and biometric information needed to apply for an Iraqi passport through the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Finland.